The crisis of being a youth
by Kressidia
Summary: Winry Rockbell is a volunteer at the youth crisis center on her summer break before starting high school. One day she receives a suicide call from a depressed boy named Edward. He then calls every day until he meets her in HS. AU and rating may change.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: I so love Full Metal Alchemist/Brotherhood. This anime is in my top five and I will pay it homage. AU of course and Ed/Winry as it states but of course there will be other canon couples like Maes/Gracia,Roy/Riza and a few of my favorites like Miles/Olivier,Al/May,Scar/Lust...and you'll figure out the rest. This starts on the summer break before Ed starts high school and he wants to commit suicide so he calls a suicide hotline that Winry volunteers at and she talks him out of it and Ed ends up calling every day to talk to her, not knowing that she will be going to his high school as a freshman as well. This story isn't about high school though, it's will contain them in high school but it is more-so about the depressing and pathetic friendless life Ed had before and how when he enters high school,how meeting and befriending special people will turn his life upside down. Now I'm just gonna tell you this, Maes does not die in my story, I [heart] him way too much,sorry for all you Maes haters out there. **

Chapter 1:The Suicide

Winry sighed softly, volunteering tonight was really taking a toll on her and her nerves. She took on this volunteering job at the youth crisis hotline to help people, not to get prank phone calls about stupid people drinking too much alcohol and trying to get her phone number, it was just annoying. Go figure, she was wasting her Saturday at the Resembool Library in the youth crisis room, on their phone waiting for another call.

It's not like she had anything else to do, her automail lesson with Gran ended at noon, as it did everyday this summer. She chose to do this because she had no friends anyway.

She heaved out a loud sigh, taking a sip of her mountain dew before the shrill ring of the phone sounded in the otherwise silent room. She quickly picked it up and said her normal greeting, completely expecting the same old douche bags who asked her lewd questions like what color her panties were.

"Hi, this is the youth crisis hotline. My name is Winry Rockbell,how can I help you?"

"I'm gonna do it. I'm finally gonna do it this time." Came a broken voice from the other end. Do it?

"Do what?" She asked, confusion evident in her tone of voice.

A loud sigh came from the other end, his voice small and defeated as he spoke. "I'm going to end this miserable existence. I hate everything about my life. It's not even worth the shit and torment I put up with."

Winry gasped loudly,her hand clenching the phone as she heard the finality in his tone. He wanted to do it, but if he really did then why call here? She was sure glad he did though.

"But, why? Tell me why your life is so miserable."She said softly, only pausing to breath."I'm sure your family will be devastated if you do that..."

"No Winry,nobody will give a rats ass. Why is my life so fucking shitty you ask? Well every single day of my damn life I get ridiculed at school for being short and wearing automail. They call me every name you could think of and they play stupid tricks on me and my little brother. He doesn't even have anything wrong with him for gods sake! Just because he is related to me..."

This forlorn boy sounded so angry when he spoke of his treatment, it made Winry ponder how people could be so harsh to somebody like that for no reason. Just because he was different. Wait...he said automail...

"That's so awful!People are such jerks,I swear! I know how you feel,a little bit. I get ridiculed as well for being a tomboy who likes fixing automail and working on cars. You can't even imagine the names those stupid idiots call me." She ran her fingers through her long blonde tresses as she recalled how excited she was to get the hell out of eighth grade and away from her bullies,her gran transferring her to a school across town from her middle school so her tormentors didn't follow her there too.

"You fix automail?" Came the boys surprised voice.

That made Winry smile, her sky blue eyes were twinkling as the boy sounded a little happy to hear it.

"Yea, my Gran is teaching me. Hey, if I can ask,how did you get automail?"She took a leap of faith and hoped the boy would tell her about it, praying that this wouldn't drive him over the edge.

"Well...my father was...uh...driving us home from a Christmas party a few years back, and we didn't know that he had been drinking like a freaking fish. My mom offered to drive but my dad just told her that he would. Well we ended up getting into a fatal accident where my dad drove straight through a red light and we were hit on both sides of the car. My arm and leg got trapped under some metal shit when I tried to shield my little brother but I couldn't help him at all. All of Al's bones got shattered in the accident. My mom...wasn't so lucky. She died immediately upon impact. A fucking semi hit her and Al's side of the car! Alphonse barely survived and had to go through some pretty serious surgery but he's okay now...aside from the multitude of scars marring his body due to all the surgery. That's why Al is picked on...They call him the meanest shit. And me, well my arm and leg had to be amputated and automail was the next best gets worse,my stupid fucking father got a broken colarbone from his seatbelt jerking. How fucked up is that!"

Winry felt her sky blue depths fill with tears at this boys explanation. This boy was now crying,she knew that for a fact, sobbing through his explanation about how his mom and brother had been hurt. How could people treat him this way after what he fucking went through? That kind of crap is the reason why Winry did what she did, so she could be there for people like...Hey what was his name anyway?

"I-I'm so sorry!You seem to have been through some pretty traumatic things...how about your friends? Did they help you through it?"The blonde haired tomboy found herself silently crying as well, finding herself losing faith in human kind everyday thanks to douches like the ones this boy and his poor brother had to deal with.

The kid scoffed at her question. "I don't have any friends. They all turned on me when I came back to school after the accident with automail. They call me stupid crap like tin metal freak and throw food at me and spit on me like I'm some sort of animal. I'm not that different from them..."He sounded a little lost when he spoke, his voice sounding far away as he speculated as to why people were so mean.

"No, you're exactly right. You aren't that much different from them and honestly, you aren't the only person in the world with automail. It's their ignorance and inability to accept people who are different from them that makes them treat you that way, so don't think you are doing anything wrong. Besides, those people don't deserve to be your friend anyway, those assholes. If it makes you feel better,I don't have any friends either,besides my Gran and my dog Den." Winry said with irritation marring her normally kind voice. There was no excuse for their treatment of this guy.

He surprised me by chuckling faintly,a smile in his voice as he spoke. "You know,you're a really good person. I don't know what possessed me to call this number but I really wanted to kill myself but I don't know, I thought you would be some pretentious jackass who would just read from a script or something but...you really made me feel better. To be honest, this was the first time since that accident that I have confided in somebody. I never did because I felt that they would mock me or ridicule me but you didn't."

She smiled brightly, even though he couldn't see her because she had indeed saved a life today. This kind of satisfaction and joy made it all worthwhile,even through the prank calls. This one boy giving her the time to console him made her day, hell probably her whole week.

"Of course I didn't,silly. There is nothing to ridicule."

"Edward."The boy said out of nowhere, catching Winry off guard and confusing her at the same time.

"Huh?"

"My name is Edward, but I like to go by Ed."He said, his voice stronger and more defined than it had been the whole time they had been talking. That warmed Winry's heart that she had made a difference and that he had confided in her his name when he didn't have to.

"I'm glad you decided to tell me your name,Ed." She said, a gleeful smile on her face as the words came out of her mouth sounding flirtatious.

Wait what? She didn't just flirt with a suicidal guy did she?He could be like 300 pounds and ugly as sin and here she was, but she couldn't help it. Ed was grateful and she found somebody who had automail.

"Well thanks again,Winry. I have to go cook dinner for my brother..."He sounded reluctant to get off the phone and suddenly Winry felt the same. Why didn't she want to get off the phone? She glanced at the clock to see that she had gone over her time by an hour, but she didn't seem to mind.

"You're welcome, no need to thank me, it's something I wanted to do. Oh and if you ever feel that way again, just call here. For the next month I will be volunteering here from 2 pm. To 6 pm. So feel free to...I'm the only one who volunteers so nobody else will answer the phone." She offered then wondered why she had just done that. She had NEVER said anything like that to the other hundreds of people she had talked away from jumping off bridges,slitting their throats,popping pills and shooting themselves in the head...but she had to him.

There was something about this Ed guy that calmed her and made her feel like she needed to be there for him. Maybe it was because the fact that he had no friends...yea, that was it. Definitely.

"Cool, I'll do that." He simply said before she was met with the dial tone. Before Winry could mull over her last call, she quickly gathered up her purse and made a mad dash through the library.

"Oh crap!Gran is gonna kill me for being so late!"She screamed as she ran as fast as her legs would take her, thanking her lucky stars that she lived only ten minutes from the Library.


	2. Friends

**A/N**

**I am really digging this story and I'm hyped on it. Plus the reviews I got are good and I love people,SRSLY. Hey can you guys vote on the poll in my page? I know it's annoying to ask but I'm writing a DBZ Halloween story and I'm at a loss of what Mirai Trunks and Vegeta are gonna wear. PLEEEEEEEEEEEASE? **

**Rainbowed-Sunned-Spirit: Thank you so much,dollface! I already have my characters all lined up in my head and It's gonna be great. And I thank you as well for pointing that out to me, I really need creative criticism and I am working of fixing what you said. Thank you for liking my story. (=**

**To the mysterious reviewer named S I appreciate you too! I will not disappoint. **

**FMA is copyright to Arakawa of course, and she did a fantastic job. **

_Chapter 2: Friends_

Winry found herself up at 5 am, her elation at starting at Central High in Amestris was getting the best of her. She wasn't actually due to leave for another hour because classes didn't start till 8:15 am and it took her a good 2 hours to drive there. The free time allowed her to think about the boy that had called a month ago, talking about killing himself.

Edward had called every day since their first chat, the same time everyday. Like clockwork he would call at 4 pm and they would chat for two hours, about anything and everything. He told Winry about his younger brother, Alphonse and she had even got to talk to him for an hour about a week ago. He was such a sweet kid, about 2 years younger than Ed, but still.

The blonde haired beauty told Ed about her own parents dying while away in Ishval, getting caught up in a war that wasn't their own. She had hated to relive those kinds of thoughts that were buried so deep, but Ed actually consoled her...in his own jerky way of course.

They shared information about hobbies and Ed even shared with her that he had an obsession with science and all it's components. He was researching the forbidden art of Alchemy, which his father detested, but Ed didn't seem to give a crap. Winry shared with Ed her obsession with automail and her hobby of repairing cars in her spare time.

Needless to say that Ed had become Winry's best friend in that time. She was pretty upset upon having to quit her volunteering job until next summer, it plain out sucked to not have Ed call her anymore. She pondered about giving him her phone number before but Al had actually given her his number and made her swear to call them. Of course Ed put up an irritated front of giving Al crap for giving Winry their number but she could tell that Ed was pleased.

She figured she would call him at 4 after school. Ed had said that he was starting school today too and as usual, Winry had wished him luck and told him to ignore the assorted assholes of high school. They were the same age after all and she had a tiny inkling of hope that they might be attending the same school...she had heard Central High was a popular school.

"Winry, wake up! It's six am and you need to get ready!" Gran hollered from downstairs.

Wnry opened her door to tell her Gran that she was already ready but the smell of delicious food wafting into her bedroom was making her salivate. Instead she just grabbed her belongings for school and ran as fast as she could to the source of her glee.

"I've been awake since 5,gran." The blue eyed girl uttered with a quaint smile,sitting herself down in front of the plate of inviting looking blueberry pancakes,sunny side up eggs and sliced strawberries and bananas. Wow, Winry didn't even think twice before tucking into her food without hesitation.

Her Gran could only look on in awe as her granddaughter tore through her food like she hadn't eaten in years, then to have her jump from the chair and quickly wave goodbye as she made her way out the door.

Winry sat alone in the cafeteria at a long white table. It was only 7:30 and no sign of people. She had to make a mental note to never come this early again. Hell, she even stopped to get coffee on the way and still she was 45 minutes early! Her nerves were insane to say the least.

"Hey there,you and I seemed to have the same idea..."Came a soft female voice, noticing that the girl plopped down across the table from her.

The girl looked a little like a book worm, what with her glasses and chin length brown hair. She looked plain adorable though and very friendly. Winry smiled in relief to see that she wasn't the only one to be early.

"Yea...I live in Resembool and it took me an hour and a half to get here..but I wasn't sure how long it would take..."

"I live right around the corner but I always like being early...gives me time to read."She replied, winking as she pulled out a manga book.

"Hey My name is Winry." Her blue eyes only showed friendliness as she smiled. The bookworm returned her smile whole heartily, momentary looking away from her Manga. "My name's Sheska. Nice to meetcha Winry. That's a really cute name." Sheska commented, smiling wide. 

Winry blushed in embarrassment at the compliment, not like anybody had ever said that before. "Thanks! So are you a freshman too?" Winry was only trying to make idle conversation to fill the silence that was awkward to her but seemed comfortable to Sheska.

"Yea,I'm 'fresh meat' as the Juniors and Seniors like to call it. Hey whats your first period class?" She still hadn't turned away from her Shoujo manga book...

"Oh um..."She paused only to open a folder to look at her schedule."I have Mrs. Curtis for gym...ugh I hate gym!"

Sheska's eyes seemed to light up at this, a smile on her face. "OH me too! At least we don't have to dress out on the first day." She seemed uber excited now and Winry had to admit she was as well. Before school even started she had made a friend...when in middle school she couldn't make any friends at all.

The cafeteria had started to fill up now and she could see a slew of different people hanging out in their cliques. Huge groups of an array of different looking people were crowding in and Winry hoped that she wouldn't look like somebody who deserved to be made fun of.

She was brought back from her zoning out by hearing people talking at her table, and several people were seated talking to Sheska.

A tall guy with dark hair and glasses smiled at Winry, and well as A girl with a face framing bob haircut with light brown hair. Along with them was a tall beautiful blonde haired girl,a dark haired guy with shaggy hair and dark eyes, and a super buff guy with one curly blonde lock of hair and a mustache.

"Hey my name is Maes and this is my girlfriend Gracia." The guy named Maes introduced, that same kind smile on his face. "Nice to meet you."Gracia said with a lovely smile as well. Wow...they looked like the perfect couple...

"H-hi...my name is Winry Rockbell..." She was a bit nervous and it showed but Gracia just laughed and laid a hand on her shoulder.

"No need to be nervous, Winry." She assured as the others chatted amongst themselves.

"Oh and this is Roy and that's Riza." Maes said, jutting his thumb in the direction of the other two who were now comparing schedules. "How do you know these guys, Sheska?" Winry had to ask because her curiosity was getting the best of her and Win was never one to ignore it.

It was Maes who answered her. "Sheska is actually my younger sister and I figured I had better come and protect her before the vultures set in on the new freshies. I wouldn't want my nerdy sis getting picked on."

Sheska immediately slapped him upside the head and Winry and Gracia laughed, along with Roy. "Hey you look kinda like Riza." Roy mused aloud,dark curious eyes landing on her. Riza nodded in silent agreement, looking at her for a moment. "Yea...you're right..."

Winry fell silent as another few people crowded around the table. This time it was a tall blond short haired guy, mildly cute, A tall chubby guy who was laughing loudly, and a short nerdy looking guy with glasses.

"Hello!" came a booming and overly manly voice, which came from the buff guy. "H-Hello?" Winry's blue eyes darted around to see if everyone was accustomed to this guy talking this loud. "My name is Alex Louis Armstrong! It is nice to see such fresh faces joining us!"

He was right in Winry's face then, seeming like sparkles were surrounding him. He had his hands clasped together in a girly way but he made it look so masculine. At that moment she was 1,000% sure he was gay. No doubt about that.

"M-my name is Winry Rockbell and thank you..."She muttered softly, trying to avoid eye contact.

The rest of the group just laughed until the blonde guy intervened. "Ah give it a rest Armstrong...you're scaring the poor girl."

"Winry that's Jean Havock, Heymans Breda and K-Kain...Feury." Sheska clarified, noticing the way Jean was leering at Win.

"Call me Breda." Breda corrected with a slight smile as he popped a powdered doughnut into his mouth casually. He sat down with the rest of the guys and started chatting away.

"Yea, Sheska kinda has a thing for Kain..." Jean laughed, looking at the two shy nerds trying to conversate. "I can see that..." Winry said distantly, not really paying attention to Havock in the slightest. Instead her gaze was leveled at a golden blonde haired boy with his hair pulled into a high ponytail, the length spanning mid back. He wore A blood red hoodie with a black symbol on the back with a black pair of skinny jeans, and a pair of black and white chucks on his feet.

She was entranced by this kid she didn't know and why he was sitting alone.

"Maes...who's that kid?" Winry asked, a frown tugging at her lips.

Roy and Maes glanced over to where Win's eyes were averted and they both shrugged. "Don't know the kid, must be a freshi." Roy said with little concern but Maes frowned. "I don't know...maybe you can ask him to come over here, looks lonely."

"Yea..." She said softly, getting up from the table and crossing the distance to him. She lingered near him without saying a word for a moment, waiting for him to address her like she was actually there and when he didn't she tapped his shoulder gently.

His head immediately snapped in her direction, the boy obviously pissed off about being bothered,and turned his unique golden eyes on her in fury.

"What the hell?" He asked, an eyebrow arched all the way to his hairline. Winry was taken aback at his sudden rudeness, putting her hands on her hips. But for some reason the blue eyed beauty could swear she heard his voice somewhere...

"Sooo sorry! We thought you looked lonely so I thought you could come join us but never mind!" Winry found herself stomping away from the cute wide eyed boy, plopping herself down at their table.

Everyone stared in awe at her, thinking she was just some cute innocent girl. Well they would be wrong. Well not entirely, Win was cute and innocent but she had fire behind the looks.

"Rawr kitty got claws!" Roy laughed, the others joining in at her expense. Winry shot a death glare to the tall,dark and handsome guy who was keeling over in laughter along with the rest.

"You know, Jean likes his girls feisty..." Breda teased,poking Winry on her side until she began laughing as well.

The platinum blonde felt so lucky once again this day. Thanks to just meeting one person, she in turn became a part of a huge group of friends, protected from the freshman heckling because she was sure the most of them were upperclassmen.

"Shut-up, 'Brenda'!" Jean purposefully changed his name into a female name to embarrass Breda,which failed because he kept laughing.

Winry couldn't help but glance back over at the lonely boy, who looked sullen at this point. She let her sky blue iris's stare straight ahead but she caught him looking over at their table with an unreadable expression on his face. Upon seeing that, she felt empathy for him, she couldn't help it. He was alone and she didn't like that.

Her eyes caught a group of Gothic looking kids, all huddled up like they hated the world.

"Hey who are those guys?" Winry asked, subtlety jutting her thumb in their direction.

"Those are the school goths who have affectionately named themselves 'The Homunculi'. Some of them are related but they are all really creepy. They even nicknamed themselves after the seven deadly sins." Came Jean's voice,low and scary as if he were telling a camp fire story.

Winry rolled her eyes at his biased statement. "You know, they could be really nice people." She remarked, noticing his agape mouth.

"Don't get wrapped up with them, they are bad news, Win." He was warning her like they were a group of murders, which they obviously weren't.

Before she could think much on it, the loud shrill ringing of the bell pierced her ears, jolting her up from her seat. She noticed the golden blonde walking in her direction, towards the gym and she smiled wide.

Maybe...just maybe she thought she could apologize to the boy. He seemed to be a little squeamish around people and she wanted to be his friend.

That's it. She was definitely going to apologize to him.

With her smile beaming and Sheska to her right, chatting away, she practically skipped to gym, her heart happy.


	3. Stand Up

**A/N:**

**I love you guys so much that I'm typing again. MUAH YUSH! Oh and by the way, I am kind of playing this story by the seat of my pants, so suggestions are always welcome through review or PM. Oh and also, the first 4 chapters will be all the meetings of friends and it is really important to the story line so bear with me on this first day of school chap okay? After the first day is over I promise I won't drag it out like that. Love you guys!**

**The mysterious reviewer S: Yep they sure did. :D I was gonna have them meet last chapter but where is the fun in that? Oh and yea, middle school generally blows for everybody, popular and unpopular alike. I adore Sheska and Maes and I just added two and two. The two of them, as well as ll the other characters play a big role in this story and will all get air time. Thanks for your review love!**

**My dear anquitil: I'm sorry dear! I hate this damn phone because it's a complete POS when it's supposed to get me my mail. -stabs it- To show my gratitude for your review PM me something you want seen in the story in chapter 4 and I will make it happen in the most awesome way possible. It can be anything and is limited to nothing. :D Thank you, luffle duffles!**

**The Sweet BlueDemise: Thank you so much! I actually thought out the characters extensively and what click they would be in and how to adapt them to my story and the basis so thank you for noticing.(:**

**My dollface Rainbowed-Sunned-Spirit: Thank you for pointing that out to me and if it wasn't for you I would have never noticed my run on sentence issue lol! Well Winry is a likeable gal and it was very convenient for her friends brother to be a popular upperclassman and then she is a part of the group. That's kinda how it is in HS, once you get your mandatory teasing you're one of the guys lol. OH GOSH I LUBB SHESKA AND KAIN SHHH dun tell nobody lol. My OTP is so EdWin but I love side couples. Oh and you know I had to make Al and Win friends some how, I like to keep small things to the original story of FMA like I did with the Homunculi. Lol I can't wait to introduce those goths formally. And yea...they will meet and it will be epic. Your words about Ed's automail gave me an idea. Thanks for your review,darlin!**

**The awesome Nicjole: ****Oooh thank you for your lovely review honeysuckle.(: It's sweet reviews like your that make me wanna update like 3 times a day, seriously.**

**My ninjaesque Lightning-Kunai:**** Thanks hunneh! Your review really makes me smile.**

**The adorable pipkin-in-the-grass:**** Thank you cute patoodie! Yea I actually work at a call center so I thought about the youth crisis thing and It would be my first angsty story posted up here sooo yush. And yes, my luffle duffle, Scar will definitely show up, actually next chapter. **

**Okay I think I got everybody! I really do appreciate your reviews and I love you guys for it. Thank you so much for the inspiration. Kressy loves you!**

**Arakawa is copyrighted for the wonderful idea of FMA!**

**Chapter 3: Stand Up**

"Hey! Shut-up and sit your asses down in the order I call you in!" came the booming voice of Mrs. Curtis as she yelled, efficiently getting everybody in the gym to shut-up.

Winry was a little confused. "Hey Gracia, is she allowed to curse at us like that?" She was whispering as quietly as possible so the strict gym teacher wouldn't curse at her next. Gracia merely giggled softly as she also looked to see if Mrs. Curtis was looking their way, but she was too busy calling female names.

"They can say whatever they want I guess because they are unpaid and have to deal with delinquents like him." She pointed towards a tall guy with red eyes and ebony spiked hair. He was arguing with the teacher until the male gym teacher pushed him to a seating position. He is in that Gothic clique thing...

"I guess Jean was right about them being bad news..." Winry mumbled, noticing Sheska reading again. Gracia merely nodded as her name was called, she quickly scurried over to her line in the roll call. Soon after, her blue eyes looked around as she heard her name was called and then took a seat behind some girl with a black Bob cut.

After 20 minutes of making sure everyone was all there, they left everybody alone wander off on their own, and her clear blue eyes located Sheska. But before she even could make it to her, Winry could hear some kind of commotion over on the bleachers.

As usual, Winry's curiosity got the best of her as she quickly hopped up the few steps and strode over to a few of the Gothic kids surrounding the cute golden haired boy. He was paying them no attention until one of them yanked the sleeve of his hoodie up to reveal an automail arm.

Pale blue depths recognized one of the bullies as the same kid who was giving the gym teacher hell. There were 2 others, One young looking kid with long jet black hair and another slightly older looking one with greenish black hair, A headband on his forehead.

"Look at this freak! Hey tin metal freak, say something!" Greenish black hair cruelly teased, shoving the boy. The golden haired boy slapped the spiky haired guys hand away with defiance and struggled not to curse the kids out. Winry was gritting her teeth at their cruelty as she glanced around to locate maybe one of her male friends but they were all grouped completely across the gym. Damn...

The one with the long black hair was the next to continue their nasty comments, their ignorance blatantly showing by their actions. "Hey loser, remember me from middle school? I know you got a metal leg too."

"I bet he's got a metal dick too. Full Metal Dickhead, that's your new name." Laughed the spiky haired loser and that was when Winry lost it, seeing red.

"HEY Why don't you leave him the hell alone and GET.." She was seething and fuming, remembering her own teasing from the hell of middle school and those from her new friend Edward. She wasn't going to let this guy get made fun of for just being different. No way in hell.

"This is man's business, go play with your little geeky animetard of a friend and get the hell away from me." Spiky hair was really pissing Win off and she was about to throw a punch, seriously.

"What is this Full Metal Dickhead a friend of yours,blondie?" Greenish black antagonized, walking closer over to her, letting his hand catch a lock of her platinum hair.

She immediately swatted his hand away from her, causing him to jerk a strand of her hair out. "Screw all three of you, just leave him alone or I'll personally make your lives a living hell." Winry had her teeth clenched as she stood her ground, only averting her clear blue depths to see the look of pure shock on the boys cute features.

The spiky haired guy had moved closer as well, only leaving the long ebony haired kid with a gaping mouth, looking remorseful slightly for playing a part in his ridicule. He backed off slightly, moving away from the boy with the deep golden eyes and remaining quiet. "My relationship with him is none of your business, so just get out my my damn face and go bother somebody else."

Winry couldn't help but raise her voice at this point, her once peaceful cloudless blue skies now a vision of pure rage. Winry took on the volunteer job not only for the community service hours, but to help people as well. Being all too familiar with being ridiculed and made fun of, she made it her business to help people with those issues. She couldn't stand seeing this guy being hassled like this just because he was gifted with automail. Winry didn't see it as a curse, no, she saw it as being beautifully different. This caring young lady believes that there is something beautiful about not looking like everyone else and having individuality.

"Greed, lets just go.." The ebony haired boy with really sharp looking teeth said softly, seeing something everyone else didn't.

"Look assholes, if you don't leave me and the girl alone, I'll make sure you get a black eye from a full metal fist!" The boy finally stood up, pushing past the silent long haired boy to approach the group.

Winry looked around in a panic, her bravado deflating like a balloon, nobody noticed anything out of the ordinary yet.

A beautiful girl with pale skin,red lips and flowing dark and wavy tresses approached them, a chiding look on her face. "Gurido, Rasu and Enbi...lets go. Leave these freshman alone before Mrs. Curtis writes you up."

"Awww come on Rasuto, we were just about to have fun." Came the one she called Enbi,with the greenish black hair, his face contorted one of annoyance.

"You will address me as lust, Enbi." Her tone held one of finality and Enbi still persisted while Gurido or Greed or whatever the hell his name is and Rasu stayed silent.

"Well how come you can call me by my real name and I can't do the same?" He persisted, now his tone of voice held amusement for getting under her skin. "Just shut the hell up and lets go..."Greed began to sulk off,his large hands shoved into his pants pocked.

"Yea...I don't want to get in trouble by my mom..."Rasu began to fidget with his scared fingers nervously, his eyes darting from Winry, to the golden haired boy and from Lust to Envy,

"Yes, your mom was roughing up Greed earlier..."Lust mused with a soft and melodiously seductive chuckle...if that was even possible.

Heaving a great big sigh, Envy gave Winry the finger and followed after his 2 friends, only receiving a glare from the both of them.

Winry suddenly felt awkward and nervous, knowing that she was supposed to be apologizing to the boy yet she wouldn't even turn to face him due to her embarrassment. What was she supposed to say? She just felt so...

"Hey, Thanks for standing up for me back there...it was really amazing."

Winry slowly turned to see a simply adorable lopsided smile on the boys face,noticing how attractive he was when he actually smiled and how familiar his voice still sounded to her.

"It's okay, honestly, I can't stand when losers like them pick on people just for being different. I think having automail is amazing and I personally think that they are just jealous nobodies." Winry ended her statement with a humph, showing her distaste in people like that. She really did despise it and there was never any getting around it.

"You sound so familiar..." The boy mused,stealing the thoughts straight from her head. They both stood there for a moment, letting the wheels spin in each others mind until a light bulb clicked, Winry being the first to ask the question.

"Edward...?" Her voice was meek and sheepish,more of a question than a statement of fact because she just wasn't sure.

His brows furrowed for a moment as he recognized her for who she was. "Winry?" his voice was certain more strong and confident than Winry's was because he knew that it was her. The talk of automail and her ability to always stand up for the underdog definitly put her identity to the forefront.

She nodded vigorously,her straight platinum strands bobbing with her head. Winry looked delighted and she wanted to embrace Ed, but that was a little awkward.

"Small world huh?" he joked, sitting back down on the bleacher step, looking over towards her with a casual air about him. Win decided to have a seat next to him, a soft smile on her face. "Well I guess you can tell Al that we finally met,huh?

He chuckled at that,a frown crossing his lips soon after. "Al's first day of 7th grade was today and I'm not sure if he can handle all of the bullying without me around." He was solemn now,looking down at the ground while clenching his fists. It was obvious that Ed was overprotective of his brother but there is good reason behind it.

"I'm sure he will be okay..."

Winry didn't really know what to say considering she has no siblings and nobody besides a dog to look after. She merely turned her deep blue orbs on Ed to see him frowning at her,his honey colored iris's staring at her.

"Hey lemme see your schedule,Win." She snagged her schedule from her pocket and was about to open it until Ed snagged it from her hand with a smirk. "Too slow." joking with her now eh? Winry decided to snag his schedule as well, which was loosely hanging folded inside his Hoodie pocket.

Winry snatched it straight out of the pocket, feeling very ninja like at that moment and began to look it over until Ed began to speak without even looking away from Winry's schedule.

"I let you do that so don't think your some kind of stealthy ninja." His voice was filled with amusement as he smirked a sneaky little smirk, and Winry wanted to know why.

"Whats so funny,huh?" She pouted,jutting her front lip out in a rather cute manner as she tried to grab her schedule away,only to have it moved just out of her reach.

"Too slow!" He was out right teasing her now and Win couldn't help but chuckle on the inside, though on the outside she was relentless at seizing her schedule from it's abductor.

"Cool, we have 3 out of the 6 classes together,excluding this one because we technically aren't in the same class. Mr. Garfiel for Metal Shop, Mr. Falman for History and Mr. Grand for Biology." He spoke again then, a smile evident in his voice.

Her soft blue eyes blinked about ten times in rapid succession, processing the news she had just received. "Wait we have 3 classes together?"

"Yep." Was his simple response as the bell rang for second period, her now crumpled looking schedule being tossed at her with a slight flick of his metal wrist. She snatched it up and rose to her feet quickly,noticing Ed lingering. Was he waiting for her?

"Well hurry up, we have to go to history now and I really don't feel like getting bitched out for being late on the first day because it's seriously across the school" Eds blond hair glowed from the rest of dull looking students as his foot tapped impatiently on the ground.

"I'm coming, you big jerk." Winry muttered under her breath, slightly jogging to keep up the pace Ed had suddenly made, noticing that he began to start walking immediately as she rose up from her seated position.

Going to be an interesting year...The lovely blond thought to herself, humming an unknown tune as she merged into the crowd of overly pushy teenagers.


	4. New Friends

**Authors Note:**

**Okay so I'm extremely sorry about this over extended absence. A lot of things have been going on in my life that I would rather not share but just to name a few so you guys don't totally despise me, I have been being stalked by some psycho to the point of getting a restraining order, not to mention how my hubby's idiot ex is constantly harassing me and threatening to kill me. Plus my internet has been off since the end of October and I have been out of a job and unable to pay my bills so we were living in a bad situation barely able to survive. But now things seem to have calmed down quite a bit so I am back in business. Also I am going to be mass posting because I wrote so much while I didn't have internet so have no fear, there will be MUCH MUCH more. So much more in fact that you are totally going to hate me. Oh and I changed my writing style up a little bit so I'm doing it in first person for a little bit, don't hate me kay? -Hides-**

**Also I would really love to thank all of you people who reviewed and all the alerts and stuff because it made my heart explode with joy and made me continue to write this story. I sincerely appreciate it and I won't fail you guys and provide you with a soap opera worthy fic mauahahaha. (: Love you all!**

**FMA/FMAB is not mine sadly, It is owned to Arakawa. HOWEVER, I watched another anime by this manga artist and it's called Hero Tales. I HIGHLY recommend this anime. It is not only a tear jerker, it is full of awesome fast paced action, hilarious comedy, and engaging and unique storyline makes this for an interesting watch. Trust me, You will adore it.**

_Chapter 4:New Friends_

To say that Mr. Falman's class was boring would have to definitely be the hugest understatement of the year. Seriously this man was so long winded and deliberate with his slow talking and Ben Stein-esque voice that I was praying to God to let this hour pass with utmost quickness. I wasn't the only one who was watching the circular wall clock like we were being released from a 25 year sentence in jail.

Edward had sat next to me and to my left was Sheska and Kain, smiling and chatting about this new anime that they were watching calling 'Hero Tales'. Thankfully Mr. Falman had allowed us to have the last 20 minutes as free time to get to know all the students in the class while he read his Kindle fire. Heck, every student in his class let out a collective sigh of relief of that because there wasn't one open eye in that whole room.

Ed twisted in his seat to straddle the chair while facing Sheska and Kain, much like I had done so we all could chat about nerdy stuff like anime and video games. Hell, I was a self proclaimed tomboy and auto-mail nerd...which was the cause of a lot of ridicule for me and to add fuel to the fire, I enjoyed Video Games and Anime like it was religion in my other free time. I had no friends so it's not like I had anything else to do.

"Hey Winry, isn't this that kid who was alone this morning that got all snippy?" Sheska asked with an eyebrow quirked. I nodded with a smile on my lips, a laugh bubbling in my chest at how I protected Ed from those Goth bullies...speaking of those jerks...that long haired kid was in this class with us. He was chatting with some chubby and shaved head kid and some dark short haired kid, all of whom were decked out in the same overly goth type clothing.

"Yep, but we're cool now, right Ed?" Ed stuck his tongue out at me momentarily before introducing himself. "Yea, I guess she's okay. My names Edward Elric but you guys can just call me Ed."

"So you guys like anime?" Kain asked, as he used on finger to push up his glasses like the classic class nerd and pervert in anime with the swirly glasses. I chuckled at the thought, noticing that Ed had snickered at the same time that I did. Weird...if we just had the same though. We exchanged weird glances and then looked back at Sheska.

"Of course! My all time two favorites are Rurouni Kenshin and Fushigi Yugi. I just love those steamy and eternal love stories with the added action!" I swooned, earning a laugh from Ed,Sheska and Kain. "Eh', I'm more of a Love Hina and Golden Boy fan..." Kain muttered. We all had wide eyes and looked at him because at that moment we knew our suspicions were true. He was a perv. "I wish I was Keitaro or Tenchi living in a house full of busty and beautiful women!"

"Pffft that crap is lame and for perverts. Gundam,Trigun,Dragon Ball Z and Saiyuki. That's whats up."Ed nodded like he knew his stuff was the best ever, which I couldn't deny that I loved them all as well...but they still weren't better than Fushigi Yugi! Never!

"Nooooo~ What about Sailor Moon and Full Moon O Sagashite? And Inuyasha!" Sheska interjected, throwing out some of my other favorite animes, oh hell, might as well say that everything is my favorite.

"Puuuhllease. Those are waaaaaay too girly. Now how about some Baki the Grappler and Berserk!"Ed rebuttled quickly but then Kain interrupted." No way, Ranma ½ is waaaaaay better. NOTHING and I mean NOTHING beats the sheer hilarity of that anime. I have never laughed so hard at an anime as I did with that. C'mooon you know I'm right!"

In unison all four of us started laughing, knowing that Kain had a point. Ranma took the cake, hands down.

"Am I not Blue Thunder?" Ed and I exclaimed in unison, mocking what Kuno had said to Nabiki. We all busted out into uncontrollable laughter at that point, earning weird looks from everybody else in the class and hate glares of evil from the wannabe goth kids in the corner.

"Yea you guys are pretty cool." Ed said with a hearty smile, his golden hues twinkling in amusement and I nodded in agreement, my platinum locks bobbing with my head. I was so elated that I had finally found some friends that wouldn't make fun of me or ridicule me for liking anime and auto-mail and not dressing like some girly girl. For the very first time in my life I felt as if I was actually wanted and belonged, like am able to be myself.

Looking at Edward smile his lazy smile and conversate with Sheska and Kain, I didn't see that broken boy that was on the phone with me who wanted so desperately to commit suicide and just end this endless cycle of suffering that he described to me. No. What I saw was a very personable and friendly guy who just needed somebody to be genuinely kind to him for him to reciprocate. Some real friends. Ed and I weren't so different.

The four us were all smiles until the shrill ring of the bell indicated that Mr. Falman's class was over, much to my dismay. I was having an awesome time with my new friends Sheska and Kain and my not so new friend Edward.

"Well, Off to Mr. Garfiel next..." I sighed heavily at having to end our conversation and to head to my next class alone. Oh wait, Ed has his class to didn't he? "Well lunch is after third block so meet us at the same table that we were-"Sheska was cut short by the chubby goth guy bumping into her rather hard, causing her to completely fall over and drop her books and glasses with a loud "OOMPH"

We turned to see that same long haired jerk from gym class, along with his flunkies,the large shaved head guy who looked like he was a major mouth breather, and the short dark haired kid who literally looked like a he should be in elementary school. They were just standing there cackling at Sheska who was blindly looking for her glasses, which had skittered under a nearby desk.

"Hey, watch out you fat jerk!" Ed was fuming, his amber depths were so alight with rage that I'm surprised that he didn't punch those guys right there. Kain was at Sheska's side, helping her to get her glasses and collect her books before we were all late to the next class. I stood there dumbfounded and bewildered as to why they even did that to her in the first place.

"Who you calling fat?" He responded in his nasally sounding voice, confirming my initial thoughts of wondering if he was some mouth breather. The worst part was that he had Doritos crumbs on his black band tee, which also indicated that he was indeed a fat jerk like Ed had said. No surprise there, I thought with an exasperated eye roll.

"Who the hell else in this room weighs a metric ton, you fat ass? You bump into her and knock all her crap on the floor and don't even apologize nor do you even help her. But I guess I can't exactly blame you...I guess we technically can't clear all the desks in the room just so you can pass."

I couldn't help but snicker at Ed's mean remark, nor could Kain and Sheska who laughed as they hurriedly called their goodbyes and high-tailed it out of the classroom and onto their next classes respectively. I swear there was a little dust cloud behind them because they hauled ass so fast at the sight of eminent danger.

"Silence, you miniscule peon." The elementary goth snarled, his coal hues were solely focused on Ed, holding up a petite hand to silence the big guy before he said something stupid that would ruin his whole condescending, pompous attitude. Wow, Jean was definitely right on the mark when he pegged them for weirdos.

Instead of inciting more of an argument with them, Ed shocked me by taking a firm hold on my arm with his Auto-mail hand, the cool metal stinging my warm skin lightly due to the temperature difference, and hauling me towards the door.

"I have no interest in losers like you guys." Ed then turned to look at me. "C'mon, Win, We're gonna be late if we don't hurry."

I was stunned to silence that Ed had handled that situation so...maturely and calm. Al had told me many times that Ed had an explosive and short temper, which tended to get him into a heap of trouble when it came down to it, but he displayed a nonchalance that I wish I could when it came to bullies like them. Honestly, I wanted to hit that fat jerk right in his bowling ball head but Ed was right, we did have somewhere to be...in less than 2 minutes.

I heaved an exasperated sigh, allowing Ed to partially drag me to our next class. This is definitely going to be an _interesting _year...

…

"Holy hell..." Ed whispered to me, nudging me with his elbow. "What?" I snapped in a hushed whisper, my clear blue hues glancing from Ed to our teacher, just hoping he didn't see me chatting with Ed while he was trying to introduce the course and himself...er...herself? Or maybe itself?

"Is he a cross dresser? Look at that make-up he has on...and not to mention that shameless dress that he's wearing! At least his legs are shaved...yuck...I sure hope that he doesn't seriously think that he can teach us welding and woodwork with that crap on."

Ed was obviously grossed out, I got that much, his endless rambling about how weird Mr. Garfiel was didn't go unnoticed by the rest of our class, not by a long shot. We were sat 5 to a large wood table in the most uncomfortable chairs I swear I ever sat on. Besides me and Ed, There was A Chinese looking guy with jet black hair pulled back into a ponytail with a front bang, a yellow and white long sleeved over shirt with a black undershirt underneath and white pants, A cute girl with jet black hair pulled into a loose bun atop her head, a long sleeve back shirt and skinny jeans, and lastly a cute blond guy with short hair and striking green eyes with a white Volcom shirt and baggy jeans.

"Yea...Mr. Garfiel is a weirdo." The blonde guy whispered to us, an amused smirk on his face as he smiled flirtatiously at me. His smile was sort of coy, like he used this on girls all the time and instead of flirting back like I wanted to, I looked away with a look of disinterest on my face. Those playboy guys really got on my nerves. However, my brushing him off did nothing to deter him from continuing to smile at me. "I heard Mr. Garfiel works at a gay bar and dresses in drag." The dark haired guy with his eyes oddly closed whispered, making all of us at the table crack up a little bit. "Oh shush, Lin, maybe he's just having a midlife crisis or something..." The other girl smacked the one she just named as Lin upside his head playfully while looking completely serious, which made all five of us laugh.

"Whats so funny over there? Hmm?" Mr. Garfiel strode over to us in a very drag queen-esque manner, stopping at our table, causing everyone in the class to avert their attention to us with amused eyes. Ed deadpanned as the Teacher raised his perfectly manicured eyebrows at us, awaiting some kind of response from at least one of us. Thankfully Edward spoke up, a drop dead serious look on his face as he proceeded to speak.

"Well this guy over here farted and we couldn't help but laugh."

Ed jutted his finger at the guy named Lin, whose jaw had dropped to the table while everyone in the class laughed at him, including Mr. Garfiel. Lin looked to have a martyred look on his face with us all laughing but eventually everything calmed down and Mr. Garfiel was finally done giving us our syllabus for the class and thoroughly introducing himself and the class. We were thankfully allowed about 25 minutes of free time to 'mingle and jingle' with our classmates as Mr. Garfiel liked to put it.

"So thanks for ratting me out back there." Lin pointed an accusatory finger at Ed, who was leaning back in the chair with his foot propped on the edge of the table for balance. Edward looked like the vision of nonchalance as his eyes were closed, a slight amused grin tugging at his lips.

"So you did fart?" Ed asked with a laugh in his voice. Lin seemed to be aghast with Eds line of questioning but me and the other two at the table just kept laughing at their exchange. I think I might like this class even better than the last one.

"Well...it wasn't really a fart...more like a toot..." He was contemplating the differences in farts now and that was just ridiculous, so I decided to change the subject and introduce myself to my new friends at the table.

"AHEM. Anyway...my name is Winry Rockbell and this is my friend Edward Elric."

The blond guy spoke up first, his smile lazy and his voice sounding as if he wasn't very interested...but yet he still smiled at me in that same flirty manner. "My name is Russell Tringham, please to meet you, Winry." His voice was like velvet or something when he spoke to me,his emerald eyes lit up in a very pretty manner.

"My name is Lan Fan, pleased to meet you all." She introduced formally, her long side bangs brushing against her cheeks as she spoke. "I am Lin Yao, the twelfth prince of Xing." Lin stood abruptly with a serious face that didn't suit him at all and...a prince...really?

"Seriously? A Prince? Are you high?" Russell eyed him like he was a bit soft in the head or something. I was sure meeting some strange people today, Gran would think I was insane when I told her about some of these people.

"No he is not high, you fool! He really is a prince." Lan snapped at Russell, her dark eyes smoldering and glaring daggers of hate at him, to which Russell merely shrugged off and looked to his Iphone in boredom. "Yes, I chose to come to public school here." Lin replied with an aloof attitude, shrugging his shoulders.

"Well it's nice to meet you all. Why did you guys decide to take this class?" I was curious because I took this class because even though our teacher seemed like a complete and utter freak, he was apparently one of the best Auto-mail mechanics in the world and he retired at an early age to be a high school teacher. I wanted so badly to learn from him, I was so happy when I got accepted into this class, so I only hoped that the other had a somewhat similar reason.

"Well, I had an extra elective spot and this was the only class available at the last minute so I took it." Russell shrugged like he couldn't care less about this class, which was obvious that he didn't. I looked on with dismay, hoping I wasn't the only one who was as enamored with auto-mail as I was.

"I love working with wood and metal so I figured I would." Lin smiled a friendly smile to me, which instantly warmed me. I could tell already that there was just something about Lin that was innately comforting and drew people to him, like a moth to a flame. He was funny and friendly, what more could anyone ask for in a friend? "And I figured that since Lin was in this class, I could help him."

I peered at Lan for a moment, instantly noticing that she was very overprotective of Lin and that she seemed to have some kind of feelings for him. I made a mental note to get a little more history between the two of them so maybe I could help get them together.

"I figured that I should at least learn how to repair my own auto-mail...so here I am." Ed sighed, sitting up with his pretty golden eyes now open. "You have auto-mail too?" Lan asked, her eyes widened in disbelief. Ed merely nodded and lifted the arm of his red hoodie and the leg of his pants to show them off. "Not like I want it."

"Yea I know how you feel..."Lan exhaled as well, showing her own auto-mail arm to us with a gloomy look on her face. "Hey I think Auto-mail is cool, there's no need for you guys to hate it so much." Russell was trying to be nice, I was sure, because the once playful mood at the table was now subdued and rather depressing. "Yea, He's right guys. I love working on Auto-mail, it's actually my favorite thing to do." I beamed a smile in their direction just to assure them that they weren't ghastly and horrid freaks like most other people painted them out to be. I happen to adore the rare people I meet with Auto-mail. "I think you guys are amazing and beautiful just the way you are, don't let these jerks make fun of you."

"Yea, Lan, there's nothing to be sad about."Lin assured her with a kind smile and with that, the bell rang. We stood and gave our byes as Edward and I headed to meet with our new found friends at the same table that I sat at this morning.

That was until I felt myself being knocked to the floor with a force so hard that the wind was knocked right out of me. For a moment everything went black, hearing yelling and chatter all around me, my eyes slid closed and the only thing I felt was the throbbing in my head.


	5. Confrontation

**OOOOOKAAAAIIII I feel that I need to make it up to you guys so here Kressy is, typing her wittle heart out to make her beautiful readers happy. I hope I haven't disappointed anyone and as I've said, I'm kind of flying by the seat of my pants on this fic so if anybody would like to PM me certain scenarios or things you would like to happen, I would be overjoyed to add it right into my fic. Every little idea that you awesome folks take the time to tell me will appear in this fic in some way,shape or form. Kressy promises from the depths of her hearty. :)**

**So without further adieu...**

**Arakawa is the owner, not I...tis not I.**

_Chapter 5:Confrontation_

"WINRY" I heard Edwards voice as I blinked about a million times to clear my head of the stars that were surrounding my head. What I truly wanted to know is just what the heck just happened? All I knew is that I heard Ed cursing somebody out and a whole bunch of people chanting 'FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT'

…

Wait what? Fight?

My vision cleared to show Ed with his fist clenching that chubby Gothic kids shirt, the two hollering at each other while the other kids in their circle were chanting for the one that they called Gluttony( not that I couldn't see why they would deem it that he would be gluttony...) to hit Ed. His fury filled golden depths were seething, that much I could infer just by the harsh way his jaw muscle was protruding on his face.

"H-hey whats going on here?" I was completely and utterly confused as to what was going on between the two and what they could possibly be arguing about now. Sheesh it was only the first day of school and these guys were already going at it like cats and dogs. I rolled my eyes at the thought that Ed couldn't have possibly made worse enemies in this school, especially a bunch of weird people who wear too much black cloths and eye make-up and pick on everyone else.

"This fat oaf just purposefully knocked you to the ground just like he did with Sheska and tried to walk off like nothing was going on." Ed retorted, his right eye twitching as if he were beyond the point of irritation. I noticed that he clenched Gluttony's collar a bit tighter, causing his face to turn slightly red as he was being denied oxygen.

"That's a fucking lie, I saw that you merely tripped over your feet. Clumsy bitch." The one that was earlier named Envy piped in, a mischievous smile on his lips. Oh hell no, that guy did not just say that I had tripped over my own feet, did I really just hear him right? Never a day in my life have I been clumsy, as a matter of fact, Gran had always told me that I had always had amazing balance every since I was a toddler and now some weirdo that I had just met has it out for me for no apparent reason and is trying to physically hurt me,which they had already done. What...is going on?

"Are you kidding me? There is no way. I'm not clumsy and I'm not just some prissy little pushover that you can mess around with." I took a few steps closer to the situation, walking straight passed Ed and to the obnoxious jerk that had just accused me of something that I knew didn't happen.

Envy's murky deep greenish black hues were brought to life by the amusement that was evident as a cackle exited his lips. "You're a feisty little bitch aren't you? Why not just shut your damn trap or things might get more unpleasant for you than they already are. Wouldn't want anybody to get hurt would we?"

My eyes widened in momentary shock, noticing that he had just discretely threatened me in front of a crowd of people. Next to me, Ed tossed Gluttony aside only to shove in front of me in a rather protective manner but before he could speak, Maes, Roy and Jean emerged from the crowd , looking none too pleased with this situation. I wasn't either, my head was throbbing from slamming against the dirty floor of the hallway and I was even still confused as to why they felt the need to treat me this way. I guess I could never escape the bullies.

"It's not very becoming of a man to threaten a woman like such. Ugh, chivalry now a days has diminished so pathetically it makes me want to vomit." Roy face palmed as he spoke, shaking his head in blatant disapproval. His dark eyes were glaring lazily at Envy as the three of them wedged themselves in between Ed and Envy and Gluttony.

"No kidding. So whats going on here?" Maes was surveying the situation before he acted. "This goon pushed Winry to the ground so hard that I think she passed out for a minute." Ed explained to them, and I noticed that all three of their eyebrows raised at that statement. Jean was the first to act, shoving Gluttony hard to the point that he stumbled and fell into one girl in the crowd.

"How dare you push a girl! What the hell is wrong with you? Didn't your mama teach you not to hit women?" Jean snarled, pushing the sleeves of his long sleeved navy blue sweater as if he was going to punch him next. 

Gluttony merely struggled back to his feet, legs wobbly and unsteady yet he was laughing out loud. "My mama didn't teach me nothing, and I was only doing what Envy told me to do."

Envy deadpanned right then and there and Roy was in front of him suddenly, his smoldering glare fixated on Envy. I grabbed Ed's arm and watched the scene unfold ahead of us, wishing that I could have just had a normal first day of High School.

"What a little pansy you are. Telling your little flunkies to hurt a girl is pretty shameless. I should punch yo-" Roy was interrupted by Maes laying his hand gently on his shoulder, stepping in to take a more mature approach to the situation so we all didn't get in trouble.

"What he means to say is that you really have no reason to start something with her on the first day of school. Look, we have no problem with you and your friends but if you continue to antagonize Winry and Blondie we are going to have some problems. C'mon Winry, lets take you to the nurse and see if you are okay."

Maes spoke so stern, yet so kind at the same time. His voice was very neutral and he was very level headed, it's no wonder Gracia looks at him with admiration and love, it's because he's such a genuinely nice guy.

"I'm fine..."I mumbled, bending over to gather my belongings as the crowd dispersed with nothing but disappointment about how there wasn't a fight and that Maes was a goody two shoes that should have allowed a fight to break out. "I'm not done, four eyes." Envy called to Maes, catching his attention.

"Problems you say? Well you have some now, and you all had better watch your backs because you're all an enemy to the Homunculus now." Envy let out another ear splitting cackle as he sauntered off with Gluttony in tow behind him, waddling like a penguin.

"Say what? Now they are out to get us?" Jean whined, a frown on his lips as he finished helping me to get the stuff that fell out of my purse. "Pfft. Let them come, weirdos." Roy shrugged in an aloof manner, regarding the whole situation and it's conclusion. I was kind of weirded out about the whole thing personally but I merely looked over to Ed, who had a solemn look on his face...like he'd dealt with these guys before. It was pretty odd to me, how he had said nothing while the other guys talked to Envy...it's like Ed knew those guys already.

We commuted to the table that we were supposed to have been sitting at 15 minutes ago before that whole fiasco happened and began to talk about the situation.

"I'm so sorry for getting you guys involved in this." I apologized to them profusely, holding my head down and bowing. All I was greeted with was chuckling from them, all assuring me that It was not my fault and that they were sure that I was unaware that there was even anything to be involved in.

"I told you those guys were trouble, so why'd you go and piss them off? They probably already have our voodoo dolls ready." Jean whined with a shudder like he was actually pondering what evils that they have in store for us or something silly like that. Boy was he cynical...

"I didn't do anything to them, honest! You can ask Ed." I began to pout at him, thinking that me of all people would go around picking fights with people. "If I was intending on picking a fight with somebody, it definitely wouldn't be with the group of freaky looking people who look like they want me for a human sacrifice or something."

"It's no big deal, if they want to pick a fight with upperclassmen then they've got one." Roy humphed after his statement, taking a bite out of his hamburger. Maes merely smiled warmly at me and Ed, like we had been friends for ages.

"There's nothing for you guys to worry about. I'll handle them. Besides, from what I understand, you did nothing wrong." He reassured us with a firm expression and a shrug. "Yea like I said, if they try something then they have us to contend with." Roy added ,Giving us a thumbs up. It was then that I noticed that Roy wore a pair of gloves. Why, I wonder...

"I think I know why they did that to you." Ed turned to me, tossing his bag of Sour Cream and Onion chips onto the table. "Huh? What did I do to them?" I was curious, not only that though, I contemplated how I could possibly have people bullying me on my first day of school when all I had done was be friendly and nice to everyone. Ugh...here we go again.

"You stood up to them in gym when they were picking on me."

"So? Any person with morals would do the same thing right?"

Ed looked beside himself for a moment before responding. "Not really. Most people just ignore it. I have dealt with those jerks through most of middle school, relentlessly picking on me and embarrassing me." Ed exhaled loudly and resumed eating, with me, Roy, Jean and Maes looking at him wearily. It seemed we all were sharing the same thought.

"So...they've been bullying you THAT long?" Jean questioned, his bright eyes peering at Ed in wonder of how he hadn't already beat the mess out of those guys already. "Yep." Was his simple response.

"It would have been ass kicking time for them." Roy was even surprised that Ed was so passive and docile when it came to people making his life a living hell for years on end, and I had to agree that there was no way that the Ed that I see now would just allow somebody to do that for so long.

"Well back then...eh' never mind that crap. They can say what they want to me but there's no way that I'm letting them beat up a girl."

"Hey, I'm not just damsel in distress that is so weak that she can't protect herself you know!" I shot back at him and his assumption of me. I know that I was a blond haired, blue eyed, thin girl who appeared to be harmless but I was anything but. Along with volunteering for the summer, I took Tai Kwan Do, just for situations like this.

The guys laughed heartily at my response, Ed included. "We know, we know, okay? But you have guys that can protect you now. I know we just met but I can't sit there and watch a girl be bullied." Maes replied, holding his hands up in surrender. I merely humphed at their statements and laughing, although it never killed a girl to have guys who were willing to beat up people for them.

...

The rest of the day passed pretty uneventfully. English/Literature class with Mrs. Lecoulte who was 9 months pregnant was boring,aside from having Lan Fan in that class with me. The teacher was a total sweetheart though. Next was math with Mr. Archer, which was also equally boring and not to mention that the teacher was a total weirdo and jerk. He was so stern and had a stone face the whole time...such a hard ass! I can tell that his class is going to be a total pain. Lastly, was Mr. Tucker's class which was biology a.k.a Alchemy. Thankfully most of my new friends were in this class with me. Ed, Lin, Lan, Sheska and Kain were in that class but the teacher was an even weirder guy than Mr. Garfiel had been. He had this...strange look on his face like he hadn't slept in weeks. Luckily he let us choose our seating so we were all huddled together.

After that atrocity of a class, we all walked out together and said our goodbyes and exchanged phone numbers. I was elated, to say the least. I had finally, and on my very first day of school gained some good friends. I heaved a sigh, letting my eyes wander to the ceiling, also noting to myself that I had also apparently made some enemies.

I allowed my sapphire hues to ease themselves closed, pondering all about my strange yet amazing first day of school. My thoughts lingered on my not so new friend Edward, who was broody yet contemplative and intelligent. Nonchalant and standoffish to some, but to others, a total beacon of energy and humor, constantly making everyone smile and laugh around him.

I began to wonder why I was thinking of him right when I was supposed to be going to sleep. Ugh! I rolled over and hugged a pillow to my chest, hoping and praying that I wasn't already developing a crush on the golden eyed, not so suicidal boy that I finally met today in person. I was not that kind of person! I don't develop crushes on guys I just met...as a matter of fact, the only guys I have ever liked all never felt the same so I should nip this in the bud. Mmmhm! I chanted these thoughts over and over in my head until I felt the tranquil calm of sleep wash over me.


	6. With You

**`A/N: Okay, I'm not going to lie and say that I'm not sick of this website, because I am. I take my writing as an author seriously and whether it's a fan fiction, a one-shot about my own portrayal of a character or if it's a book. I don't take kindly to imbeciles making idiotic reviews on my work because they think I made a character too caring or whatever. Also, being rudely messaged when I am asked to review some persons fan fiction, and when I give constructive criticism, I get bawled out because I was 'too harsh'. How am I being too harsh? Any who, aside from my irritation with this websites and the idiots that inhabit it and think that it's funny to make fun of work somebody spent time out of their busy day to write, I'm going to update. I'm not trying to bitch at my readers but if I suddenly remove all my work and delete my account, you know what happened. I truly love all of my fans who push me to update and provide me with wisdom and advice that helps me to further my career as an author and someday publish my own book. I love you all so much and your reviews and alerts keep my weary soul moving. Thank you all so very much, just know that I update for you all. You are the fuel for my fire. Anyway, enjoy the chapter, I rather enjoyed writing it. Also, I apologize for calling him 'Ling' when his name is apparently 'Lin' which is what I'd originally thought but I thought I saw it as Ling on many sites so I just wanted to make sure I was right. Damned Wikipedia! (:**

**FMA/FMAB is copyrighted to Hiromu Arakawa.**

**Chapter 6: With You**

Winry woke with a start. Sitting up and putting a cool hand on her sweaty brow, she sighed, in turn blowing her sunny blond strands from her face. _UGH! The same damn dream again!_ She thought in frustration. The dream in question, you ask? The dream involved a certain blond haired, golden eyed cutie giving sweet little kisses to our little automail fanatics lips. The same dream she'd had for the last week, ever since Ed had stood up for her against those creepy bullies. Bullies that Ed seemed to have quite a history with.

Winry gave her head a quick shake, to rid that weird reoccurring dream from her head. "Oh no…" She groaned, burying her hot face in her lame pillow. "Please don't tell me that I've got a crush on him…" She was groaning into her pillow, so nobody could hear her, as if there was anybody there to even listen. Her Gram was downstairs most likely making breakfast. She sighed once more; flailing herself back down onto the queen sized fluffy bed that her gram splurged on for her.

For some reason, her heart fluttered every time Ed was around and it made no sense! Or…maybe it did. Ed had been the first guy to stand up for her and that made her feel oddly feminine. Then again, Winry had stood up for him as well. She pouted at the thought. "Not like it matters anyway, he won't like me just like the other guys." She sighed a sad little sigh until she thought for a moment. Wait. There is NO reason why a guy shouldn't like her! After all, she was blonde, cute, with good sized boobs and smart to boot. Humph! If Ed didn't like her, then that was his problem! With her confidence thoroughly boosted, Winry leapt from the bed like an Olympic gymnast, her abundance in energy making for a hilarious sight when her gram busted in, calling that breakfast was ready.

Her Grams rough elderly features were twisted in bewilderment and something along the lines of amusement at the same time. Winry, however, had a deadpanned look. Like she'd just been caught dancing and singing naked to backstreet boys or something. "Winry, what in the hell has gotten into you?" Her Gram asked, her brow arched in serious confusion. "Nothing! J-just practicing for the long jump in gym class!" _Oh what an awesome lie! _Winry congratulated herself internally, surprising even herself with how quickly it came. With her wrinkly brow still arched, her gram turned slowly to leave. "Well…breakfast is ready." And with that, she retreated back downstairs where she came from.

Quickly showering with her favorite bath and body works blend 'moonlight path', she toweled off, brushed her long hair into a messy side pony with her cute bangs brushing her face. Then, she scurried off into her room, towel clad, then threw on her pre picked out outfit. It consisted of a simple white tank top, a black pleated mini skirt and a black blazer and flat, black boots. She scurried over to the full body mirror. Admiring herself with a broad smile. "It's not like I'm trying to get his attention or anything…" She muttered to herself, scolding herself for dressing so…_girly._ Winry was more of a jeans and T-shirt kind of girl…not a skirt girl. At least she didn't own a lick of make-up, or else she might have the urge to put the horrid crap on. She visibly shuddered at the mere thought.

"WINRY! Dammit! Your food is cold now!" She heard her gram yell in that angry tone of voice that indicated if she didn't get her butt downstairs then somebodies ass would get a whooping. Not hers, she hoped. She hurried downstairs and plopped down at the table, with her purse and book bag in hand. Apparently her gram had warmed her food up for her and looked like she was a smidgen annoyed. Crap.

"Are those bullies still picking on you?" She asked, her rough old voice not even hiding the anger at the thought of somebody picking on her sweet little granddaughter again. Winry was a little weird, but Pinako loved her. Loved her for her mother and father and she would be damned if Winry was ridiculed on her watch. Hell, Pinako would go up to that damned school on her own time and show those bullies just how it felt. She was old, but not old enough not to knock the shit right out of any of these ballsy little brats.

Winry suddenly looked a little uncomfortable, her sky blue eyes looking down at the plate of cheesy scrambled eggs, sausage patties, grits and toast, looking at the food with a weary expression. "Yea…I guess they still are. It's been a week since they started and my friends are amazing about it." She said with a hopeful voice. Pinako didn't buy it for a minute. "But?" She asked, her eyebrow rose. The young Rockbell let out a soft sigh at her grams insistence on the subject. "Well…they just won't stop. There are certain people in their little group who don't bother me at all, like this guy they call Greed and the girl called Lust but all of the others mercilessly mess with me and Ed, even though we have upperclassmen friends with a lot of pull in the school. I just don't get it." Upon explaining this to her grams, she recalled how the other day, Envy had placed a threatening note in her locker, written in blood, to frighten her. Honestly, it scared the holy shit out of her but she wouldn't let them see her fear. Winry wouldn't give them the satisfaction.

"…Winry, do I need to come up there?" Was all her gram asked, a firm look of anger set on her face. Winry shook her head causing her blond hair to shimmy around her body. "No, I can handle it." She sounded a hell of a lot more confident than she felt, but she got the point across. Her gram just remained silent, contemplative even. _Edward? Hmm…it can't be Hoenheims little boy could it? Nonsense…they moved._ Pinako pondered. The rest of the meal passed in choked silence and upon finishing, Winry snatched her belongings, slinging them on, calling out a friendly goodbye to her grandmother and headed off to school. A day that wasn't scary or annoying would be a nice day for her.

…

"Hey, Winry!" Sheska called, a smile on her lips as she greeted her at her car, which was ironically parked next to Maes's car, which Sheska had just climbed from. A smile pulled at her lips, especially when she saw what her awesome new bestie was holding in her hands. "Is that the newest volume of Fushigi Yugi: Genbu Kaiden?" She gasped, her smile unable to be hidden. Sheska nodded excitedly as her brother and his lovely girlfriend emerged from the car as well, a sweat drop on Hughes's head. "You're such a nerd, Sheska!" He whined in a mocking tone, which only rewarded him with a hellish glare heaved his way by Sheska and Winry. "Shut-up! I am not a nerd; I am simply a connoisseur of manga and anime. Get it right, baka!" She snarled, cradling the book to her breasts. Gracia laughed softly, melodically. "Yea! Don't hate," Winry pouted, ogling the book that Sheska had, coveting it in secrecy. "I think it's adorable, Maes. Besides…we all know you are a closet anime fan." Gracia teased, an amused smile on her glossed lips. His faced contorted in surprise as he clapped a hand over Gracia's mouth.

"Just because I enjoy a little Dragon Ball Z and Berserk does not make me like Sheska!" He hissed, causing Winry, Sheska and Gracia to giggle. Maes found their giggles contagious and soon joined in, that was until he heard the amused voice of his best pal, Roy. "Oh, don't let him fool you. He watches anime and reads manga 24/7. The other day he told me that he locked himself in his room and watched all of Shugo Chara." Everyone snickered as Maes turned red as a beet. "Liar! I said I was watching Love Hina you jerk!" He countered, only to get odd looks from Sheska and Winry. "Pervert…" They both muttered. Roy nodded twice as Gracia placed a soft kiss on her long time boyfriend's hairy jawline. "Hey guys…did I miss something?" Came the aloof voice of Ed, trotting up to them wearing loose dark wash jeans and a red short sleeved graphic tee with his normal hoodie slung over one shoulder.

Winry let her sapphire hues linger on him, noticing that his long, rich golden blond strands weren't loosely braided or tied into a high ponytail like normal. She surmised that he just was being lazy and would do it before school started. Upon noticing her lingering stare Ed smiled lazily at her, waving an iron hand at her. "You didn't miss anything, squirt. Just Maes getting outed." Ed was quick to get his temper flared. "SQUIRT? YOU SNARKY ASS-"He paused and thought for a moment. He then looked at Hughes then to Roy. "Outed? You mean…Hughes is…gay?" He asked in a small voice, taking a few steps back. Sheska, Gracia, Winry and Roy doubled over in laugher as Maes deadpanned for a moment. "Ugh…no, he outed my inner geek. NO. I'm NOT gay. I love my Gracia too much to ever be gay!" Maes snaked his way over to Gracia as he nuzzled his hairy cheek on her soft skin, causing her to giggle and everyone watching to roll their eyes.

"Aww…I wish I had somebody to love me like that." Winry sighed with a wistfulness that would rival any romantic anime heroine. Ed scoffed at her comment, moving next to her as Roy and Sheska began to chat with Riza, who had just walked up. "Puhlease." Winry glared at him. "Hey, don't make fun of my dream! I may be a tomboy who loves automail but that doesn't mean that I don't ever want to be loved an adored like that." She blurted out a little too much, she noticed, as she quickly shut her mouth. A look of amusement crossed Ed's features, his beaming golden suns focused on the pretty girl in front of him. "Yea, I guess every girl wants a guy like that but it'll eventually wear off and he'll get sick of her and dump her." He shrugged in nonchalance, which pissed Winry off even more. "You idiot! That's not even true! Sheska told me that they've been together for 3 years! He obviously still adores her…not everybody has the attention span of a gnat like you." She spat, finishing the statement with her tongue sticking out at him. Ed's gold brow rose as he smirked. "Well good for them. Not like a weird girl like you will ever find anybody who'll treat them like that! Nyah!" He returned her immature gesture.

Winry felt her irritation bubble over at his mean words. Even though she knew full well Edward was just teasing her, she took it extra personal because she had a crush on this jackass, for whatever reason. "ED YOU JERK!" Winry yelled, punching Ed right in his jaw as she turned on her heel and took off in the direction away from her friends. Sheska and Riza shook their heads as his idiocy. "You really are dumb, aren't you?" Came Riza's cool, almost cold voice. Ed was shaken for a moment, rubbing his sore jaw where Winry had delivered an impressive right hook. "Wha? Shut-up! I didn't do anything!" He stuttered as he was surrounded by condescending eyes suddenly. "You need a class or something on how to treat women." Sheska chided, pointing her finger at him. Riza and Gracia nodded in agreement. "He can take a million classes; he'll still be an idiot." Roy commented. "More like a virgin for the rest of his life." Maes teased with a grin. "SHUT-UP!I said I didn't do anything~" Ed exclaimed as his friends teased him. Suddenly, Ed turned to look into the closed eyes of Ling, right in his face. He screamed, jumping back, obviously startled by Ling just popping up out of nowhere.

"Woman troubles, eh'?" He asked with a nod. Ed smacked him upside his head, causing him to get pounced on by Ran Fan. "WHAT THE HELL?" Ed exclaimed in horror as he was punched on his left cheek by Ran Fan. "Don't hit him like that! I won't allow you to hurt him!" She stood protectively in front of Ling, who look slightly clueless. "It's okay, we were just kidding. Take it easy." He assured his right hand…lady. Ed glared at the both of them, his cheeks swollen and his eye twitching. "I'm going to class…" He grumbled, turning on his heel to leave until Ling was at his side again. "I can help you with all your lady troubles my friend…" He said, laying his hand on Ed's shoulder, which caused both his eyes to twitch. "I have no 'girl problems'. Go away." Edward grumbled, speed walking towards his first class without saying bye to his friends.

Winry slowed her full on run right as she collided into a hard chest, indicating that it was no female that she had hit. Instantly, Winry found herself apologizing without looking up to see who it was, only to hear an odd chuckle come from this guy. It was then that she looked up, right into a pair of eerie amber eyes. Not the rich golden that Ed's eyes were, just…strange eyes that peered down at her in amused interest.

"Oh, I'm sorry!" She apologized once more, bowing slightly. The guy with the long dark hair, 2 antennae looking bangs and weird eyes smirked. "Don't worry about it." He sized her up openly, an appreciative grin pulling at his lips even more. Winry didn't know why, but she felt repulsed by this. _Great day to wear a skirt Winry. The one time I wear one, some creep is ogling me._ She thought in irritation, yet managing to keep a small, weary smile. "I take it you're a freshman, I haven't seen you here before." He spoke again, his voice was fake somehow to her, hiding some kind of true intention, but Winry chided herself for thinking such of a guy she just met. He could be her prince charming for all she knew!

"Uh, yea." Was all she could manage before the guy smiled a sort of lopsided smirk. "My names Zolf, but most people call me by my last name Kimblee. What's your name, sweetie?" His words made her cringe internally but she kept that same uneasy smile. "It's Winry Rockbell. I'm sorry for bumping into you, I should be getting to class." She abruptly stepped around him until his coy grin widened, grasping her wrist which startled her, causing her to gasp and whip around, a look of sheer confusion on her face. Mischievous amber hues met baby blue depths for a moment until Kimblee spoke, his low voice full of flirtatious intention. "Well, Winry, next time I see you, it'll probably be underneath me." With that crude comment, he let out a snarky laugh and walked off, leaving Winry trembling in anger from his statement. Was he serious? This guy must have girls throw themselves at him all the time, but not her!

"What a dickhead, huh?" Came a voice she was familiar with; Jean Havock. She turned to see him with a slightly miffed look on his face. He wore a simple white graphic tee and light blue denim jeans, yet he was still a cutie, Winry decided. A playboy though. "No kidding, he was such a pompous jerk." Winry fumed, her dainty hand clenching her purse. Havock laughed at that, noticing Winry's aggravation. "Yea…he thinks he's some gigolo or something with the girls. Everyone knows that the ladies love me." He bragged, his blue eyes alight in laughter. Winry swaetdropped at that. "Hahah, whatever you say." His blond eyebrow rose. "So…what's up with you running away from Ed earlier?" He inquired, walking through the hallway with her to her first class before the bell rose. A faint blush crept up her cheeks at his inquiry. How did he see that? She wondered. "Pfft, nothing. He's such an insensitive jerk!" She sighed after, letting her blue eyes linger on the ground. "Give the guy a break, Winry. He's a little awkward but I can tell he cares." Havock said with a brotherly smile, laying a hand on her shoulder. "Yea right…" She muttered but the bell rang, a loud shrill noise. No more conversation was meant to be had right now apparently. "I'll see you at lunch, see ya." He called as he pushed through the sea of post puberty teens towards the male dressing out room for gym.

Winry cursed her luck. Her first class was with not only Ed, but Roy, Riza, Gracia, Sheska and those gothic jerks. She didn't want to face her friends just yet after running off so suddenly. She heaved a loud sigh as she kicked her feet strolling into the dressing room for gym class. Ugh, how Winry despised this horrid class. What makes it worse, Ed had not noticed her slightly girly outfit. Winry could just tell this was going to be 'One of those' days.

…

"So Ed, why are you so mean to your girlfriend?" Havock asked bluntly as they sat on the bleachers with Roy, Maes, Kain and Breda as they watched the girls play volleyball in the middle of the court. Ed's fair cheeks flushed as his temper flared. "W-WHAT GIRLFRIEND?" He damn near yelled, his face contorted in a humorous visage. "Winry, you pipsqueak." Roy replied teasingly, his dark eyes dancing with amusement as the rest of the guys chuckled. "PIPSQUEAK? SHUT-UP YOU…YOU FREAK!" Ed yelled, hate glares from hell aimed at Roy. Boy, if looks could kill…

"Enough enough…you are forgetting the task at hand!" Maes said with a friendly smile to Roy, who delighted in infuriating Ed. "She's hot, what's the deal bro?" Breda asked with a look of worry on his face. A look that stated that he doubted Ed's sexuality. "He just wants to take it smooth and slow, like makin' love." Maes said with a grin. Ed glared at him as well, wanting to slap him. "Shut-up! We barely know each other!" His protests fell on deaf ears however. "Well, Sheska told me that you and Winry were phone buddies for the whole summer." Kain pointed out, making Ed want to slap him too."Yea well, that's none of your business!" Ed pouted at this point, not feeling as if he had to have this conversation. "So, do you like not having a hot girlfriend" Breda asked with a raised brown, a smirk on his lips. "I don't want one! I'm just fine." Ed snarled in irritation, his sunshine brow raised in silent warning. Damn, these guys were too far in his business for his tastes….

"Man, what I'd do to her…" Jean said in an appreciative voice as he observed Winry knock the volleyball across the net in her black panty-esque gym outfit, which for some reason was a requirement. A simple white tee and black underwear like bottoms. Jean wasn't complaining, but whoever made this rule was a closet pervert. "She looks like Riza a little, don't you think, Roy?" Maes asked, looking from Riza to Winry, sizing and comparing them both. Now that he mentioned it…Roy did notice a rather high likeliness. "Just shut-up about it, okay?" Ed grumbled, his golden eyes averted away from the tantalizing image of Winry in those skimpy 'shorts' prancing around. Its bad enough Winry wore a short mini skirt but this? And to have them ogling her…ugh. Thank god for Maes and his faithfulness to Gracia and Roy with his closet like of Riza. It's not like Ed liked Winry anyway…

"Somebody is in denial…" Kain teased, letting one finger ease his black rimmed glasses back up his nose. Ed smirked at him. "Oh, and we all know you like Sheska, but have you told her? HMM?" Ed smirked down at him when Kain sputtered and fumbled trying to think of a suitable response. "W-well that is...I mean, we are just really good friends. And besides…everyone knows you like Winry." Maes chuckled, along with Breda, Roy and Jean. "Ah, to be young and in denial." Jean sighed with a joking laugh. "Trust me boys, it's so much better to have a sexy girlfriend then to miss the boat and have some other jerk on your girl." Maes warned the two, an older brotherly look about him. Kain looked up at him as if he was the messiah while Ed scoffed. Jean glanced over to Ed and eyed him warily. _Better listen to him, fullmetal, there's already somebody after your girl._ Jean thought, shaking his head in disapproval of Ed's obvious denial. Ed found himself unable to avert his eyes from Winry as she raced about her team's side of the court, sweat covering her, dampening her white shirt to almost make her baby blue bra completely seen through her shirt. Until some guy approached her on the court. Some tall, dark haired guy. Ed couldn't quite place why he was so pissed off all of a sudden, but he was. Something was not right about this jerk.

…

Mr. Falman's class was awkward, to say the least. Sheska and Kain knew about the fight Winry and Ed had had and Winry was silent the whole class, taking the notes that Mr. Falman was so meticulous about explaining while Ed didn't know what to do. He knew he was wrong for what he said and also knew it was his responsibility to apologize, yet he couldn't. For some reason he just couldn't, even though Kain told him to. Even though Sheska said that he should make up with her. Ed knew he had a few more classes with her and he didn't want to do it with these two lovers in denial breathing down his neck about it. He was never the type to feed into things like that. Thankfully, the gothic bullies decided to leave them alone for the time being.

Ed followed Winry to Mr. Garfiels class, not closely mind you. He was well aware that Winry was upset by her ridged posture but she would have to get over it because they sat at the same table in Welding/Woodworking class. He figured he would try to apologize then, if Ling didn't piss him off.

Once inside, Ed flopped into the uncomfortable chair next to Winry, only to see her scoot away slightly to the right, next to Russell, who smirked in a sly manner at this. Winry let her notebook softly drop to the wooden table and her Toki Doki purse slide into her lap protectively as Russell began in some idle chatter with her. Again, Ed didn't know why this pissed him off so much, but it did. Ling and Ran Fan arrived soon after in tow, animatedly chattering, rather Ling animated and Ran Fan intently listening with a soft smile on her lips. He found himself rolling his eyes at Ling's blatant obliviousness at how this girl felt for him. He however, took this moment to speak to Winry.

"Hey Win, can I see those notes you took in Falmans class?" He had that apologetic and lopsided smile on his lips and with Winry's lovely cornflower blue hues looking at him, smiling so cute, all the anger deflated like a balloon. She smiled slightly, turning away from Russell to look at him fully. "It's in my locker with my notebook, but I can let you borrow it after school." She replied with a cute smile. Ed felt the beginnings of a blush but forced it away. How stupid would he look if he did that? "Hey Win…about that stuff this morning…"He fumbled and hesitated, not really accustomed to apologizing when she stopped him as Russell, Ling and Ran Fan eavesdropped in the few remaining minutes before class began. "Don't worry about it, Ed." Was her simply and cheery reply. Ed gaped at her in awe as she exuded a beauty that he hadn't noticed before. She was wearing a skirt…and it showed her long and creamy legs. Ed gulped as he tried to discretely check her out. The black pleated skirt contrasted with her milky skin…but it looked nice to him, he decided. She wasn't stick thin, which was great, because he didn't like bony girls. Winry was curvy in all the good places and was really cute. Her smile was one of her best features.

"HELLO, is anybody home?" Ling poked the side of his head, knocking Ed out of his reverie. Ling…ugh Ling. "What?" He was irritated that not only he was bothered but he might have been caught checking out his female best friend. "So…I take it you and your girl made up huh?" Ling said in a hushed voice so Winry and Ran Fan didn't hear them as the two conversed with Russell. Ed's right golden brow twitched with anger. This again? He thought in aggravation. Why did everyone think they were dating? "She's not my girlfriend…and what about you and Ran Fan, huh?" Ed was always the master of subject change and it backfired, because Ling merely chuckled, one eye cracking open to reveal dark eyes. "She and I…we go way back, Ed." He said wistfully. Ed found himself confused by Ling's offhanded and vague statement. "And?" He asked in impatience. "Well, we are together but not…I suppose. She's my best friend, confidant and a servant of sorts in my country. It's kind of hard to explain." Ling attempted to rationalize his relationship but fell short, but Ed understood. "Oh…okay." Was all he said before class was started. All Ed knew was that Winry moved her chair closer to him and for some reason, that made Edward smile.

…

Lunch was the same as it had been since the beginning of the school year, all of their friends met in the courtyard outside after procuring some grub and hung out for the hour, just chatting and joking around. Nothing new. Well not today.

Ed had just walked through the clear double doors that led to the semi secluded courtyard located in a shaded area connected to the cafeteria when he noticed a look of dread on his friends faces. He was about to ask what until he was forcefully pushed forward by some unknown person. Unknown his ass. Only a fatass person could knock Ed down like that. To make matters even worse, he was trampled on by this gargantuan fatass and three of his friends, and even two more. "WHAT THE SHIT? I'M DOWN HERE YOU KNOW!" Ed screamed in anger, leaping to his feet, already in a tizzy until he heard hostilities break out. Dammit, it was that group of gothic bullies here to try and start some shit. Well, Ed would give them what they wanted. That was until he saw the girl they called 'Lust' with her slender arm hooked around Jeans waist possessively. What…the hell?

"What the hell is wrong with you, Jean?" Roy growled his voice low and warning as he glared as his good friend who seemingly had brought the bullies to Winry and Ed and he would have none of that shit on his lunch period today. Roy was so not in a mood for this crap. Jean smiled nonchalantly at Roy, waving a dismissive hand. "Dude, she came up to me and said she just wanted to stop all the hostilities…a truce. Kind of." Jean explained, obviously enamored by the concept of getting laid by such a smoking hot girl. Roy, Riza, Maes, Gracia, Breda, Kain, Sheska, Winry and Ed were all pensive, standing in a huddle. Ed maneuvered himself in front of Winry, just in case they tried to hit her again like before. And damned if they looked like they wanted a truce, they all looked damn smug to Ed's eyes. The one with the spikey over gelled hair that they called Greed was nonchalant, looked like he couldn't care less, the little one called pride, the fatass one, and the two with the long hair that bullied Ed in middle school all showed a coy slyness that pissed Ed off to no end. The girl, however, 'Lust' looked as cool as a damned cucumber.

All eyes were on this lust chick, waiting for her to speak. She ran a porcelain hand with red fingernails through her dark waves, looking a little too provocative doing it. "Well, since Jean and I decided to officially start dating today, I figured it would be best to call a truce." Her voice was extremely sultry, even catching Roy and Breda off for a moment, resulting in a stone glare from Riza. Riza, Winry, Sheska and Gracia didn't like this girl. She was far too sexy for their liking. At her statement however, mouths dropped to the floor. "Y-YOU'RE DATING HER?" Ed yelled, his golden eyes twitching in anger that he turned over to the 'Dark Side.' A smirk pulled at Jeans lips. "Yea, be jealous that I got this hottie." Maes sighed softly, shaking his head in disapproval. "Jean…are you sure that's what they want? Last I recall, they were sticking threatening notes in Sheska and Winry's locker." Ed let his fists clench at the reminder.

"Don't worry, sweetie, I've called them off." Lust replied to Maes, and Gracia, in all her sweetness, tossed a warning glare to this…this slut. "I'm not your 'Sweetie' and if they are called off, then I had better not see them starting any crap with my friends." Maes warned her, his voice edging on irritation and his look of pure seriousness. Ed smiled broadly at Maes, applauding his attitude towards this chick who thought her shit didn't stink. Ed saw right through that pretty exterior, right down to the manipulative bitch she really was. "Well, if you guys really want to be friends…" Winry said with a weary smile as she walked towards Lust and her entourage in order to greet them. Ed took the few steps with her, only to see Winry slip out of nowhere, her elbow connecting with the concrete of the ground, scraping it badly enough to draw blood immediately.

"Shit!" She cursed and as Gracia and Riza rushed to help her, Ed and Maes had their glare plastered on the one called Envy. Maes and Edward had seen him quickly push her as clear as day, Roy as well, but to the untrained eye, it would seem she tripped. "You need to be more careful…" Envy chuckled with an amused attitude, and Ed was about to step up and kick his girly ass when Maes and Roy laid a firm hand on both shoulders, gently shaking their head no. It was a silent agreement that these bastards would get what was coming to them. "Are you okay, Winry?" Edward inquired as he turned away from the gothic kids who were retreating back into the cafeteria with Jean in tow, kneeling next to Winry to examine her hurt arm. She shook her head for a moment while Gracia dabbed at it with a handkerchief she kept in her purse. "Yea, I'm alright, but I'm telling you, I didn't trip. This is gonna sound weird but that Envy guy tripped me so fast…I doubted it at first." She shook her head again to become fully aware but when she opened her eyes, all she saw was the stern faces of her friends.

"This is bullshit." Came the deep baritone of Roy, his dark eyes alight with flame as he stared after where the Goths had retreated. "You're not seeing things, Winry. I saw it too…" Kain spoke, pulling the large headphones off of his head. "Yea, I think we all did." Riza said in that soft, yet firm monotone that is uniquely hers. Her cool blue eyes rested on Winry's elbow as she tied Gracia's handkerchief around her elbow. "I don't understand…why are they targeting Winry?" Came Gracia's lovely voice, bewildered and full of concern. Maes decided to speak his concerns. "I thought that too at first, and I'm pretty sure it's because Winry stood up for Ed, who they bully. The bullies don't take too kindly to the bullied standing up for themselves."

Everyone thought on that for a moment. "Well, they can go to hell! I'm not gonna stand by and watch those assholes mess with Winry just because she's friends with me. I say we kick their ass!" Ed said with great fury, his golden brows knitted in irritation. "Well, didn't they just say they wanted a truce? If that's the case, then why come here and start shit?" Asked Breda, his face wore a look of _Are these kids serious?_ "It was to brag to us that one of us has gone to their side." Roy mused aloud, his hands now thrust into the pants of his dark blue jeans. "Please, I doubt he would side with them over a girl." Ed mocked and upon seeing the looks of hilarity on the male faces and even some of the female faces, Ed quirked his head slightly to the left in confusion. "Boy, you don't know squat do you, shorty?" Roy teased with a humor filled laugh. "WHAT? CALL ME SHORTY AGAIN! I DAR—" Ed's rant was interrupted by Breda, who was chuckling heartily. "Trust me, kid. The power women hold over men can make a man kill to get it." _What the hell is he talking about?_ Ed pondered with an incredulous look about him.

"Regardless of any of that perverted nonsense, what should we do next?" Riza asked before Ed inevitably asked Breda what he meant and Breda and the guys would school his little virgin mind on the wonders of the female sex organ. "Hmm…I say we just convince Jean she's a whore and move on." Roy suggested with a laugh. "Well, I don't want to start anything else, so let's just drop it until something happens again." Winry said, her voice unsure as the words exited her pink lips. "You've got to be kidding, Win." Ed deadpanned. "No…I don't want to drag you guys into it. I'm not a baby, I can handle myself…so let me handle it, okay?" Her pleading sky blue eyes were on Edward now, begging him silently to just let it drop before it got seriously out of hand. His seas of amber held her gaze for a moment until he sighed, helping Winry to her feet with his right hand. "All right, but if it does get out of hand…I'm kicking some serious ass." Ed finally caved, with a slight blush about his cheeks as he looked around and saw all their friends showing a cheesy grin. As Winry stood up, she felt tears sting her eyes, but refused to let them slide down. All she could muster to think of was why. Why wouldn't these jerks leave her alone? Why was she, yet again, the butt of some bullies 'affection'? Next time those jerks think to hurt her again, Winry had something for them. She was definitely carrying her trusty automail fixing wrench with her to school from now on.

…

The remainder of the school day was a blur to Winry, worry and gloominess her demeanor. Edward didn't fail to notice, but he kept it to himself for the time being, all the while, thinking of what he could do to make her feel better. He didn't like that glossy look in her pretty sky blue eyes that made them look more like endless, soft blue seas. It was obvious she had already cried or if she hadn't, then she would soon. He kept asking himself why he even cared, but it was obvious. She was his friend, a good friend who had talked him off the ledge so to speak, and it pissed him off that these assholes had shaken Winry so much, especially since she had exuded nothing but a feisty and loveable attitude so far. It irked him how much she didn't show, how much pain she kept bottled inside. Eventually, she would self-destruct, Ed knew that from personal experiences but he at least had Al by his side….Al….A light bulb seemed to go off in Ed's head at that moment at how to cheer Win up. She was always saying how she wanted to meet Al and Ed had to pick him up today from Middle School, so this would be the perfect time, and if it wasn't, oh well, Al would make it better.

The final bell had rang, indicating that it was time for the teens that inhabited the classrooms to get off the premises with as much haste as was humanely possible. Ed strolled along to his car, which was parked adjacent to Roy's flashy Mustang GT (LOL good pun, I know) and spotted Winry swapping her goodbyes to Maes, Gracia, and Sheska, who seemed to be parked next to her. Of course, Ed wasn't surprised to see Winry driving a large Chevy Avalanche that was painted the same hue as her pretty and glittery eyes. He quickly trotted up to her, absentmindedly noting again that she was wearing a cute outfit and was somewhat disappointed for some reason that she didn't have to use a step to climb into the truck. Yea…he wasn't some pervert…or was he? Ed smacked those thought away like an annoying fly as he approached Winry, who was slowly putting her belongings into the passenger side of the truck. He pondered for a moment if she was purposefully wasting time.

"Hey Win!" Ed called to her as he reached her, startling her as he was right behind her. She eyed him oddly for a moment then fumbled a weak smile on her face. "E-Edward! Don't come sauntering up to me like that and not making yourself known! You freaked me out for a minute." She scolded him, and Ed had a feeling she thought it was one of those douchebag Homunculus group losers. "Sorry, geez, I thought I was pretty loud running over here to catch you." Ed grumbled, his hands now balled in a fist and stuffed into the pockets of his hoodie. Winry smiled warmly at him and waved her petite hand dismissively, letting her now clear blue skies rest on him. "So what's up?" Her voice was perky and cute like normal, and that made Ed warm as well. He liked it when she was energetic and vibrant. This was the tricky part though. Ed was not used to dealing with girls at all and while it wasn't like he was asking her out on a date or anything like that, it was still embarrassing none the less.

"Hey…so…" Ed started, his head tilting slightly to the right, his golden orbs averting to her car so he didn't have to look at her curious and speculative face. Winry was an open book, wearing her emotions on her sleeve. "So…what?" She inquired, her girlish lilt tinted with impatience as she tapped her foot in irritation. "Well…I was just wondering…if you weren't real busy or anything…" Ed was horribly botching this and Winry saved him the effort of finishing his pathetic kind of sentence by cutting him off rudely. "Just spit it out, Ed!" She exclaimed, her cheeks tinted a faint pink hue, the same as Ed's cheeks. His temper began to flare at her constant interruptions. "Shut-up! I'm trying to ask you if you wanna come with me to pick Al up from school! Alright? Was that fast enough for ya?" Ed yelled, his sunshiny depths flaring to life as she gasped softly, not at him yelling at her, but him…kind of asking her out. Not really…but kinda.

A broad and knowing smile spread across her lips at this. "So, you're trying to ask me on a date huh? I can see why you were so shy, I am a cutie." She replied with coyness in her voice and an utterly adorable smile on her lips. Ed spluttered for a moment, his cheeks covered in a red hue as he glared daggers at her. "NO, you wish, idiot!" He spat in total humiliation, crossing his arms across his broad chest and resting his weight on his left leg. His mouth was pulled into an embarrassed frown that Winry just thought was too cute. She giggled at his attempt to throw her off the mark. "So, why do you want me to come with you?" She asked absentmindedly. Ed sighed loudly at her, Man, girls never got it.

"You said you wanted to meet Al, so I just wanted to offer." Was his simple reply and that was all it took for Winry to nod her head vigorously at his offer, a bright smile on her supple, pink glossed lips. "Okay, but you have to drop me off back off at my car later, okay?" She said, her blue eyes now blissful and her gloomy and worried attitude was now replaced by a jovial and excited demeanor. Ed relaxed and let out the breath he had no idea that he was holding, a small lazy smirk pulling at his lips. "Sure…lets head out, Al is almost out and it's a 15 minute drive." Winry just nodded once more, bouncing happily as she snatched her purse from the interior of her car, leaning into it as Ed's nose exploded with blood at the sight of her pastel pink boy shorts that defined every curve of her bottom…and everything else. Clasping his hand to his nose in shame, he chided himself internally for sneaking that peek. _Bad Edward, BAD. I should have never even looked! But she should have never jumped in her car like that…ugh any old pervert could have seen that!_ Ed glanced around them but saw that the parking lot was damn near empty. Good.

He wiped the blood on the interior of the hoodie where his hands normally rested stealthily, smiling awkwardly as Winry locked her Truck and skipped alongside Edward as they trotted to his Toyota Corolla. Ed knew this was going to be a weird day, he just knew it.


End file.
